Juliet Buna
On Monday, January 29, 2024, six school children, three teachers, and a bus driver of Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School in Emure Ekiti, Ekiti State were abducted.
A news report from The Punch revealed that the kidnappers had threatened to harm the victims if their demands for a ransom were not met promptly.
The families of the kidnapped children revealed that the abductors had initially requested a ransom of N15 million but later lowered their demands.
However, news began circulating on social media on Friday, February 2nd, 2024, stating that the children had been released.
The story was further supported by a report from a popular TV station, TVC News confirming the release of the students.
VERIFICATION
In order to verify the authenticity of this claim, N-VA conducted a thorough social media search of the relevant security agencies and government media platforms. We checked the official social media handles of key stakeholders involved in Ekiti state.
First, we examined the X handle of the Ekiti State Police Command, which has been a reliable source of verified news regarding the kidnapping. However, the most recent post barely a few hours after the rumored release mentioned additional manpower being deployed to rescue the children, intensifying the efforts of both overt and covert operations.
The post reads “Kidnapped School Children: The NPF AIRWING and IRT have arrived today from Abuja to augment the force we have on ground and both overt and covert operations to rescue the kidnapped school children have been intensified.”
Additionally, we visited the X handle of the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, and found that his latest post referred to a meeting he had with security chiefs to mobilize resources and address the recent threats to the lives of Ekiti State residents.
He wrote, “I had separate meetings alongside the Senate Leader and Chairman of Ekiti Caucus in the National Assembly, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa at the Defence Headquarters; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja at the Nigeria Army Headquarters; and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
“We discussed extensively on security, which remains a priority for our administration, and received firm assurances of their support as well as mobilization of resources to stop the recent threats to peace and security in Ekiti State.” Oyebanji said.
Meanwhile, there was no direct mention of the release of the kidnapped pupils.
A Twitter user Oluyemi Fasipe who initially claimed that the children had been released later deleted the tweet. But, he shared a separate post acknowledging his mistake and apologizing for the misleading information, clarifying that the children are still in captivity.
To get official confirmation on the current situation of the Ekiti kidnappings, N-VA reached out to Sunday Abutu, the spokesperson of the Ekiti State Police Command via telephone. During our inquiry, Abutu did not provide detailed information but stated that the news of the release was false.
The PPRO who did not give further details simply said, ”it is not true.”
CONCLUSION
The news that pupils of Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School in Emure Ekiti have been released is FALSE.
